The conception of St John the Baptist

St Luke Chapter I : Verses 18-25

Contents

• Luke i. 18-25.  Douay-Rheims (Challoner) text & Latin text (Vulgate).
• Annotations
• Douay-Rheims : 1582 text

Luke i. 5-10. 

I am Gabriel, who stand before God. 
J-J Tissot. Brooklyn Museum.

18 And Zachary said to the angel: Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.

Et dixit Zacharias ad angelum : Unde hoc sciam? ego enim sum senex, et uxor mea processit in diebus suis.

19 And the angel answering, said to him: I am Gabriel, who stand before God: and am sent to speak to thee, and to bring thee these good tidings.

Et respondens angelus dixit ei : Ego sum Gabriel, qui asto ante Deum : et missus sum loqui ad te, et hæc tibi evangelizare.

20 And behold, thou shalt be dumb, and shalt not be able to speak until the day wherein these things shall come to pass, because thou hast not believed my words, which shall be fulfilled in their time.

Et ecce eris tacens, et non poteris loqui usque in diem quo hæc fiant, pro eo quod non credidisti verbis meis, quæ implebuntur in tempore suo.

21 And the people were waiting for Zachary; and they wondered that he tarried so long in the temple.

Et erat plebs exspectans Zachariam : et mirabantur quod tardaret ipse in templo.

22 And when he came out, he could not speak to them: and they understood that he had seen a vision in the temple. And he made signs to them, and remained dumb.

Egressus autem non poterat loqui ad illos, et cognoverunt quod visionem vidisset in templo. Et ipse erat innuens illis, et permansit mutus.

23 And it came to pass, after the days of his office were accomplished, he departed to his own house.

Et factum est, ut impleti sunt dies officii ejus, abiit in domum suam :

24 And after those days, Elizabeth his wife conceived, and hid herself five months, saying:

post hos autem dies concepit Elisabeth uxor ejus, et occultabat se mensibus quinque, dicens :

25 Thus hath the Lord dealt with me in the days wherein he hath had regard to take away my reproach among men.

Quia sic fecit mihi Dominus in diebus, quibus respexit auferre opprobrium meum inter homines.

Annotations

    18. And Zacharias said to the angel, &c. That is, give a sign or a miracle for a proof to me that the great things which you are promising will surely come to pass. This hesitation on the part of Zacharias seems to have proceeded from want of deliberation and reflection, and therefore was only a venial sin, for which he was punished by being deprived of the power of speech. Far otherwise did Abraham, who, when the angel promised that Isaac should be born to him from Sarah who was barren, immediately believed; 

And he was not weak in faith; neither did he consider his own body now dead, whereas he was almost an hundred years old, nor the dead womb of Sara.

In the promise also of God he staggered not by distrust; but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God:

Most fully knowing, that whatsoever he has promised, he is able also to perform.

 [Rom. iv. 19-21].

    19. I am Gabriel, who stand, &c. That is, “I am wont to stand, ready to minister to the will of God in all things; I am not indeed now standing before Him in heaven, for I have been sent thence to thee to the earth.” Although on the earth angels may also stand before God, and behold His Face; for God is everywhere:

See that you despise not one of these little ones: for I say to you, that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father who is in heaven.

[S. Matt. xviii.10]. 

    Hence we may gather that the same angels stand before God and minister to Him, although S. Dionysius the Areopagite and S. Gregory deny this; for Gabriel stands before God and ministers to Him, and is sent to Zacharias.

    Moreover, the words “stand before” signify that Gabriel is one of the seven angels who are the chiefs of the heavenly court, as are also Michael and Raphael (Tobit xii.15). Of these seven angels I have spoken at length on Apocal. i. 4. Wherefore although some, as Toletus, are of opinion that Gabriel belongs to the last order but one, which is that of archangels, because he is elsewhere called an archangel, yet he more truly seems to be one of the first order which is that of seraphim, and therefore is called by many an archangel; and there are not wanting some who think that he is the first of all among the seraphim. Cardinal Vignerius (in Decachordo Christ. Cord. i. 2) proves this by eight reasons which I have enumerated on Dan. ix. 21. All of which are reduced to this one. For the highest work it is fitting that the highest angel should be sent; but the Incarnation of the Word is the highest work of God, therefore Gabriel, who was sent to announce that, is the highest angel. But this reason is not conclusive, as I have there shown. For the common opinion of theologians is that Michael is the highest of all the angels, and the Antagonist of Lucifer. Apocal. xii. 7.

    Gabriel in Hebrew means God hath strengthened me, or the strength of God, or God is my strength. He is therefore fitly sent to announce the birth of John and to bestow upon him the spirit of power.

    19. And behold thou shalt be dumb, &c. Theophylact and S. Ambrose translated, “thou shalt be deaf,” and so make a distinction from what follows, “and not able to speak.” For although the Greek word σιωπῶν properly signifies one who is dumb, yet one who is deaf may be understood by the same word; for dumbness and deafness are naturally connected, for those who are born dumb are also deaf, and vice versa. Wherefore the Greeks alike call a dumb and a deaf man κῶφον. Zacharias therefore was made deaf as well as dumb. Whence in verse 22 he is called κῶφος. Hence at verse 62 his friends and neighbours do not speak to Zacharias as being deaf, but signify to him by signs that he should write the name by which he wished his son to be called. “He rightly,” says Theophylact, “suffered these two things, the loss of hearing and the loss of speech; for because he had been disobedient, he incurs the punishment of deafness; and because he had objected, of silence.”

    Until the day wherein these things, &c. Zachary not believing the promises of the angel, had asked for a sign to be given him of the birth of John; the angel therefore complying gives him a sign which at the same time shall be a punishment.

    23. the days of his office, &c. λειτουργίας, Greek. That is of his sacred ministration in the Temple. His house was situated in the mountains of Judæa, where his wife Elizabeth was.

    24. And after those days, Elizabeth his wife conceived. Elizabeth conceived about the 24th of September, on which day many Christian Churches celebrate the conception of John. So that the incense was offered by Zachary, and his vision and the promise of the angel concerning the birth of John seem to have taken place a little earlier, during the feast of Tabernacles. By this it was signified that John would be born, who was to be the herald of Christ, and through Him the cause of common joy to the whole world; for he would teach men that they were strangers upon the earth, and that they dwelt in it as in a temporary tabernacle, and that they were enrolled by God as citizens of heaven, where they would obtain an eternal and most blessed home. For the Feast of Tabernacles was a sign of all these things, during which the Hebrews with branches of palm trees used to celebrate dances joyfully, because they had been brought in by God into the promised land, after they had been dwelling in tents during forty years in the wilderness. Hence it seems that John was conceived about the time of the autumnal equinox, and born about the time of the summer solstice, after which the days decrease in length; while, on the other hand, Christ was conceived at the vernal equinox, and born at the winter solstice, after which the days increase; because, as John said, “He must increase, but I must decrease.” [John iii. 30]

    (She) hid herself five months, &c. This hiding was a sign of shame and modesty; for she blushed at her child-bearing on account of her age, says S. Ambrose; but in the sixth month, when she heard and saw that her kinswoman the Blessed Virgin had conceived without losing her virginity (which was a much more strange and wonderful thing), then she laid aside her shame and went forth openly.

    my reproach. Among the Jews in that age, barrenness was a great reproach, and was considered as a sign of the malediction of God.

Douay-Rheims : 1582 text & notes

 

18. And Zacharie ſaid to the Angel : Whereby ſhal I know this? for I am old;  and my wife is wel ſtriken in her daies. 

19. And the Angel anſwering ſaid to him : I am Gabriel that aſſiſt before God ; and am ſent to ſpeake to thee, and to Euangelize theſe things to thee. 

20. And behold, thou ſhalt be dumme, and ſhalt not be able to ſpeake vntil the day wherein theſe  things ſhal be done for-becauſe thou haft not beleeued my wordes, which ſhal be fulfilled in their time. 

21. And the People was expecting Zacharie ; and they marueled that he made tariance in the Temple. 

22. And comming forth he could not ſpeake to them and they knew that he had ſeen a vision in the Temple. And he made ſignes to them,and remained dumme.

23. And it came to paſſe, after the daies of his office were expired, he departed into his houſe.

24. And after theſe daies Elizabeth his wife conceaued; and hid herſelf fiue months, ſaying: 

25. Fort thus hath our Lord done to me in the daies wherein he had reſpect to take away my reproch among men.

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The Vladimirskaya Icon. >12th century.

SUB tuum præsidium confugimus, Sancta Dei Genitrix. Nostras deprecationes ne despicias in necessitatibus, sed a periculis cunctis libera nos semper, Virgo gloriosa et benedicta. Amen.

 

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.